Bison, a folk band from Chesapeake, is attracting a herd of fans

An acoustic band from Chesapeake called Bison has pulled off a feat rarely seen or heard in Hampton Roads.

It's impressed enough people to propel one of its original songs into regular rotation on one of the area's major commercial rock radio stations.

WROX-FM (96.1) is playing Bison's tune "Switzerland" as many as 30 times a week — and not only in the wee hours of the morning when the audience is small, said James Steele, program director for the station.

"We play them every day, right next to the Foo Fighters and all the big artists," Steel said. "Their sound and what they are doing is something that fits perfectly with 96X."

Hey, wait a second.

Bison is a folk-influenced band that includes classically trained string players. It's led by a 20-year-old songwriter Ben Hardesty who started the group with his 46-year old father, an associate pastor at Community Church of Chesapeake. Lyrics to many of Hardesty's tunes express a Christian perspective.

Little of that would seem a natural fit at WROX — local radio's home to rock bad boys including Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beastie Boys and the Black Keys. Yet, "Switzerland" is doing more than holding its own. According to Steele, the song has become a listener favorite. He said "Switzerland" has prompted the biggest audience response of any tune in his five years at the station.

On Wednesday, the band will play a fundraising WROX concert at Luckie's Dueling Piano Bar in Hampton.

"I haven't seen anything like this in a long time," Steel said. "It wasn't like we were shoving it down people's throats. We wanted to see what happened. It grew really fast."

Fast is a good way to describe the development of Bison. While Hardesty has been writing songs since high school, his group fully blossomed only about a year ago. Hardesty, his father, and friend Andrew Benfante started performing original songs at family events and church festivals. Gradually members were added to fill out the sound. It now features seven members, including Hardesty's sister Annah on bells and percussion and a pair of string players, Amos Housworth and Teresa Totheroh.

To hear father Dan Hardesty tell the story, word of the band's music spread fairly slowly until December of last year when the band played a house concert at Old Dominion University.

"All of a sudden, there were these college-age kids who really loved the music," the banjo-playing pastor said. "That started the whole grass-roots, word-of-mouth thing for us."

Recordings helped spread the word. The band's debut album "Quill" was made with minimal overdubs at Minimum Wage Recording in Richmond. Engineer Lance Koehler faithfully captured the group's ensemble sound. On "Switzerland" as well as tracks such as "Iscariot" and "Autumn Snow," Bison bears sonic resemblance to groups such as Mumford and Sons and The Decemberists, bands that blend folk elements with alternative rock.

In September of this year, the band released "Quill" with a celebratory show at the Chrysler Museum of Art.

The next month, Steele saw Bison play at the Jewish Mother Backstage in Norfolk. He was sold. "We've got to get this song on," he remembers thinking. "It's the real deal. They are passionate about the music and the product we put out there. There's no way people won't react to this."

These days, Bison seems to be popping up everywhere. They recently played live on WAVY-TV's "Hampton Roads Show." This weekend in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, they'll appear with the Virginia Symphony, playing "O Beautiful Star of Bethlehem."

Ben Hardesty, the man who breathed life into Bison, said he's happy with the way things are progressing.

"I've been excited to see the local community latch on to us, and how loyal the fans are," he said. "It makes it way easier and more fun when that connection is there."

His goals for the band are simple.

"When I write music, I ultimately hope it brings people a sense of joy and hopefulness in whatever circumstance they're in," Hardesty said. "I will take this as far as it goes. Ultimately, I don't think I have any say in where it goes, but I will go there with it."

See them live

Who: Bison with The Aragona Project, Audiostrobelight and members of Mae

What: At the WROX-FM Party With a Purpose fundraiser

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21

Where: Luckie's Dueling Piano Bar, 1990 Power Plant Parkway, Hampton

Tickets: $5 donation will be collected at the door. Proceeds will benefit Toys for Tots and the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia.